So, it is with great sadness (seriously) that I write this wrap up report for my summer in the Northwest. The top sights, places, events, moments, things I’ve done during these past three months. I’ve written these summaries now for Costa Rica, Mexico, Prague and now, Oregon – but this is by far the one that is the most difficult to write – as even though I am so excited to see my friends back in Arizona, I am SO sad that I have to leave Portland. My time here has been filled to capacity with EVERY weekend on some sort of adventure (except that one weekend I finally attended to the respiratory infection). I’ve been able to see so much, experience many great things, meet new people, and ultimately have one of the best times in my life. I sincerely love this place, and would come back in a heartbeat – maybe I could get used to the rain? There’s going to be some TOUGH decisions coming up…
Anyway, more to come on that later, but for now – let’s get back to the top moments of my time here in the Northwest. Oregon is where vastly different worlds collide, yet somehow coexist peacefully creating this amazing juxtaposition of extreme nature, healthy people, bustling business, art and culture, and wonderful nightlife...
- Getting to Wilsonville, and noticing that I live AND work in a forest! (Well, not quite to that extent, but the trees are HUGE, the wild life is all around, and it is SO green).
- Getting “lost” at Silver Falls and winding up hiking for 6hrs what should have been a 3hr hike. Oh well – check out these shots…
- The Columbia River Gorge!
- Multnomah Falls!
- Tunnel Falls to Eagle Creek hike. This is where I broke camera number one with my unintentional swim in the lake. This 17 mile hike was well worth the camera tho…
- Seattle nightlife!
- Kayaking in the pacific northwest
- Hiking on the beach
- Breaking not one… but TWO, I repeat TWO cameras
- Speaking of beach – Cannon is absolutely amazing
- Hood River – to Oregonians, they also call this “the beach.” Not quite. But, nice nonetheless.
- Mirror Lake – wow.
- Tom, Dick & Harry Mountain. This is where I broke camera number 2 – but my god this was amazing.
- Ape Cave in Mt. St. Helens National Park! Tricked into caving for 3 miles, scrambling over jagged rock falls, scaling 9ft rocks, crawling on the ground = memorable. Memorable because I will always remember the cave, and probably stay out of future caves! Haha.
- Orcas Island for the 4th!
- The Portland rose garden!
- Japanese Garden!
- Chinese Garden!
- Working with a great product marketing team!
- Jetboating on the Willamette!
- Partying, happy hours and fabulous dining and shopping in the Pearl District!
Anyway, I've lived in a lot of places, but few I can say where I have actually felt like I was "home." This place is amazingly one of the best kept secrets in the U.S. It is untainted by tourists, and its simple beauty and generous natives make this city a place where global business centers exists side-by-side with a quiet and simple way of life where people truly care about family and most importantly a work-life balance. This summer was incredible, and I will ALWAYS look back on my time in Oregon and smile.
Now… off to Glentucky for my last year at Thunderbird!
2 comments:
Dude, you should so send this in to the Oregon Tourist Board or something...it could go straight into their brochures, haha. Sounds like you had an awesome time- but sadly no word was lost on how you fared in the liberal haven that the Northeast is ;-).
Now get your bum back to Glendale...the (almost) best place in the world...NOT.
haha - i think the 'official republican' rep from tbird image must have followed me up here... b/c people were pretty cool about NOT talking politics. Although, definitely did witness some protests... so all and all, i say I fared pretty well!
As for glendale... be there soon! Cant wait for drinks at the pub! Scary how thats one of the things i miss most!
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